Thursday, September 23, 2010

Pomegranate juice granita recipe

I met the pomegranate enthusiasts from POM Wonderful the other night at a cocktail party they sponsored for Social Media Week. It got me thinking about this delicious and dead simple pomegranate juice granita. The recipe first appeared about a year ago in my LA Cooking Examiner column and has consistently been one of the most popular over there.

In our house, granita is a joint effort. I go to bed early, while my husband is a night owl. He likes granita so much that if I mix it up and get it started before I turn in, he'll happily stop what he's doing every half hour to stir it up until the wee hours. His granita efforts are much appreciated: The regular stirring makes the crystals light and fluffy, so you really feel like you're eating flavored snow.

For me, the hardest thing about making granita is clearing room in my freezer for a shallow baking pan. If your freezer looks anything like my freezer...well, it probably does. The only person I know whose refrigerator, freezer and pantry are uncluttered is my friend Julie (hi Jules!). I don't know how she does it. Anytime I look in her refrigerator there are maybe 10 things in it. Apparently she has absolutely no hoarding tendencies in the kitchen. I'm in awe.

Granita is a perfect dessert when you want something sweet and delicate. It keeps in an airtight container in the freezer for a few days. If it hardens, just stab it with a fork to fluff it up before serving.

Pomegranate juice granita

8 ounces 100 percent pure pomegranate juice

1/4 cup superfine sugar

juice of 1/2 lime

Whisk together the juices and sugar. Pour into a shallow metal baking dish and place in the freezer. Every 30 minutes, remove the dish from the freezer, scrape the ice crystals from the side and bottom of the pan, and return to the freezer. The granita will go from liquid to slushy to snowy; the whole process will take about 2 hours. When the granita has the texture of soft snow, move to a container and store in the freezer. Fluff and scrape with a fork before serving.